Rannerdale Knotts - The Battle of Rannerdale and The Secret Valley

The Battle of Rannerdale and The Secret Valley

Local historian and publican Nicholas Size published a historical novel in 1930 called The Secret Valley, which tells the story of how this area resisted the Norman invaders in the 50 years after the 1066 Norman invasion. According to Size, the Norman army was ambushed and defeated by the native Britons and Norsemen at the Battle of Rannerdale.

The battle is thought to have taken place in the side valley of Rannerdale, which runs east of the summit of the fell, west of Whiteless Pike and south of Grasmoor. Bluebells grow in profusion in this valley in April and May. According to local folklore, the bluebells are said to have sprung from the spilt blood of the slain Norman warriors.

A Norman army under the command of Ranulf Meschin, Earl of Carlisle, advanced south from Cockermouth. (Ranulf Meschin is Size's anglicised version of Norman nobleman Ranulph les Meschines.) The local warriors were commanded by the Earl Boethar, who succeeded in drawing the Normans into the side valley of Rannerdale, then routed them with a surprise attack from above and behind.

In Size's version, Ranulf Meschin escaped and lived in disgrace until he succeeded a relative as Earl of Chester in 1120.

Little historical evidence is available to support Size's version of the story, which is a romanticised tale of the last stand of the native Britons against the invading force.

The Buttermere area does not appear in the Domesday Book, which indicates that this part of Cumbria was not under Norman control in 1086. The central area of the Lake District is known to have been populated by the earlier Norse invaders in the early 10th century, and dale is etymologically Norse. Cumbria was ostensibly part of Scotland, until seized by the forces of William Rufus in 1092, following a dispute with Scottish king Malcolm III, himself killed a year later at the Battle of Alnwick. William Rufus gave Norman nobleman Ranulph les Meschines lands in Cumbria following this conquest of the area. When Ranulph les Meschines became Earl of Chester, his estates were returned to the Crown. Around 1120, Henry I of England gave the Barony of Copeland to Ranulph's brother William les Meschines, who settled at then initiated the construction of the castle at Egremont on Cumbria's western coast.

Size himself died aged 86, having negotiated fiercely with the local district council to be buried on the fells. His grave overlooks Rannerdale. His epitaph reads:

No tombstone virtues will ornament my grave

No over-confidence about salvation,

Write me down one that loved his fellow men

And was a credit to his generation.